


Finding Paths

by Imgonnabeyourbubblegumwitch



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Albus is still a Slytherin, Gryffindor Scorpius Malfoy, Half 19 Years Later AU, Half Cursed Child AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 03:17:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14991596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imgonnabeyourbubblegumwitch/pseuds/Imgonnabeyourbubblegumwitch
Summary: A Cursed Child Fix it/AU which looks at some of the things that bothered me (including more from the Potter-Weasley siblings and Hugo!)Albus Severus Potter has three names and has to figure out which, if any, he wants to follow in the footsteps of.Getting sorted into Slytherin throws everything off for him. At sea in a new environment, with the legacies of a famous dad and a popular brother weighing on his mind, he eventually and unexpectedly finds he has a surprising amount in common with Scorpius Malfoy...





	Finding Paths

**Author's Note:**

> nb. I have a copy of the script and will very occasionally lift dialogue directly from it for key scenes (as in this chapter). When I do so I'll indicate that in the notes at the end.  
> Aside from these key scenes I won't be constantly referring to or following the text, so if you see any unmarked dialogue that closely resembles the script, this is accidental. Please let me know if you spot anything that is from the script so I can credit where credit is due.

 

Albus crashed through the barrier to Platform 9 and 3/4. He'd never done it with a trolley before: he'd had to come through at an awkward angle as three wheels skidded one way, but one treacherous one went the other. He stumbled, trying to keep control of the trolley, trying to ignore a head full of the taunts James had been throwing his way the entire journey, trying to stop his trunk falling off the trolley. Albus had somehow ended up with Feathers - James' owl - and he gave an indignant shriek as they finally came to an abrupt stop.

James had come through first and had already disappeared into the crowds in search of his friends, leaving Albus standing awkwardly with his own trolley plus the one James had abandoned. People were starting to look and then they started to Look, which was different altogether. Albus avoided everyone's gaze and tried to act like he didn't notice the subtle pointing.

With a shriek of joy which turned into an exclamation of protest when she was told not to go too far, Lily ran past him. Her eyes were bright as she took in the assembled wizarding families, the scarlet engine quietly hissing and puffing as it stood at rest in the station, the general hubbub of intermingled voices and the cries from the various pets voicing their displeasure at being caged up for the journey.

"Alright Al?"

Albus shrugged at his mum.

“It’ll be alright,” she said. “It’ll be Christmas before you know it and I bet you’ll be having so much fun you won’t want to come back. I thought we might have gotten rid of James for good his first year. You remember how he sulked when he remembered he wasn’t supposed to do magic at home?”

Albus did remember that. He shrugged again, not wholly convinced. James was the sort of person who could find happiness (and trouble) out of a piece of string. James wasn’t the sort of person a new school would have slowed down.

His mum gave him a look, like she wanted to follow the shrug up, but then Lily was back, riding high on Uncle Ron's shoulders while Aunt Hermione, Hugo and Rose followed behind. They'd all dressed in muggle clothes for the journey, but Rose was already sporting a Hogwarts scarf, looped around her neck.

She'd not stopped going on about Hogwarts all summer. Every time Albus had tried to rope her into a game, or flying practice or anything but Hogwarts talk, she'd just found a way to loop the subject back round. He didn't think he'd seen her without a textbook in hand for at least three weeks. Teddy, who had stayed for the last week of summer and sneaked a box of skiving snackboxes into Albus' case with a wink which summed up his attitude towards his schooling, had suggested if she learnt too much she wouldn't need to go to Hogwarts at all.

It hadn't stopped Rose. Not much could. She'd been quizzing James nonstop since his first year and had been unusually credulous at his answers. Albus was pretty sure James was making at least a third of it up. Albus wasn't convinced about the venomous staircase that swallowed up students who didn't complete their homework for a start, he didn't care how realistic the bruises he'd shown them last Christmas were: Uncle George had really perfected the latest round of skiving snackboxes and James could fake a whole array of gruesome injuries if he wanted. 

Now that the big day was here Rose was practically vibrating with excitement. While the adults were distracted by Lily, who was excitedly announcing Teddy and Victoire’s relationship to the world, Rose punched his shoulder in what he assumed was supposed to be a friendly way but, in Rose's excitement, was uncoordinated and hurt.

"What's up sour-face?" she asked with what Albus decided to interpret as concern.

Albus shrugged, just as he'd done for his mum. Rose rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Come on," she said. "Our adventure is literally about to begin. You should be excited."

He had been, in little chunks here and there. He'd been excited when his dad took him into Ollivanders and he'd stood among the rows of wand boxes, holding each up in the dusty, warm light. He'd been excited when he'd picked up a wand and felt a warm tingle shot up his arm, watched as a stream of sparks like a fountain lit the air, before settling like snow. He'd been excited when his dad took him and James in to get fitted for robes - him for the first time and James because he refused to stop growing. He'd been excited when James dumped his first year textbooks on Albus' bed with the cheerful addendum that he'd crossed out anything he thought was useless and that anything highlighted was likely to come up in the end of year exams. 

He had been excited. Now he just felt nervous. The feeling compounded into a tight ball in his stomach when James erupted out of nowhere, grabbed his trunk and Feathers and disappeared off again making sure to waggle his tongue like a snake before he went.

"Dad!" Albus exploded but James had already vanished into the crowds, hidden by a puff of steam and a thicket of bodies.

His dad looked over at him, and then to the space previously occupied by his brother. He came closer as Uncle Ron messed around with a muggle-magic trick for Lily's benefit. She was going through a muggle craze and Uncle Ron had dug some stuff out of Grandads garage for her.

"Al?"

Albus shuffled, fiddling with the label on his trunk pulling it loose, then tight again. His dad reached out, forced his hands to still.

"What if -?" Albus said.

His dad raised an eyebrow, waiting.

"Do you think -? I mean if the sorting hat -"

Still his dad waited.

"What if I'm put in Slytherin?" Albus said quickly, forcing the words out in a heaped jumble.

His dad stared at him evenly.

"And what would be wrong with that?"

"Slytherin is the house of the snake, of Dark Magic... it's not a house of brave wizards."

His dad looked upwards, watching the pale blue sky for a moment, tracing the path of a snowy white seagull as it swooped to land on the waiting train. When he looked back he looked calm, but firm.

"Albus Severus, you were named after two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

Albus sniffed, not entirely convinced. After all Snape had been _one_ Slytherin. His father also knew Draco and everyone knew there was no love lost there.

"But just say..." Albus started. His Dad reached out, interrupting him by taking hold of his shoulders and looking him squarely in the eye.

"If it matters to you, you, the Sorting Hat will take your feelings into account."

"Really?"

"It did for me."

Albus stared at his dad. He'd never said that before, never said there was a choice.

His dad gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Hogwarts will be the making of you, Albus. I promise you, there is nothing to be frightened of there."

"Apart from the Threstrals!" James yelled, whizzing past on his path towards Teddy who had finally torn himself away from Victoire.

"Watch out for the Threstrals!" James added coming to a stop and delivering his line with severe seriousness.  

"I thought they were invisible!" Albus said accusingly.

Harry sighed and shooed James off. James complied with a grin, pulling Teddy with him.  

"Don't listen to your brother," his dad said firmly. “He talks rubbish.”

"Albus!" Rose shrieked, interrupting. "Albus the train!"

It wasn't as though it was pulling away from the station but Rose dragged him and his trunk along anyway, the rest of the family following at a more leisurely pace to form ranks at the edge of the platform. Other families had taken up positions to say goodbye too. 

"Come _on_!" Rose called as he stumbled on the step.  

"I'm coming Rose!" Albus laughed. Her excitement was finally starting to become infectious.

Rose slammed the door shut behind him, but opened the window and leaned out.

"You'll write?" she asked her mum. Aunt Hermione nodded.

"Of course."

"And you'll make sure Hugo stays out of my room.?"

"I'll charm the door shut," Ron promised sombrely, though his eyes were twinkling.

"And remember to -"

"We'll be fine Rose."

Lily was standing by Teddy, glaring at the two of them in the train, arms folded tightly. Her expression soured further when the shrill shriek of a whistle echoed around the platform.

"Only another couple of years Lil," Albus said.

Lily sniffed and blinked back tears.

"You have to write every day," she instructed. "Tell me all your lessons. I can practice at home."

"Maybe not every day," Albus hedged. With a jolt the train began to move, slowly at first so he could still see his mum and dad waving, shouting a chorus of encouragement and farewells. His mum had tears in her eyes. His dad was beaming, though behind his glasses his eyes also looked damp. As the train picked up speed, Lily began to run alongside it, still calling instructions, her plaits flying out behind her.

James came up behind Albus' shoulder.

"I'll send you my first detention slip!" he called to Lily. She laughed.

"Send me Albus' too!"

The train began to outstrip her, and the platform was running out. She got all the way to the end and began jumping up and down and waving madly. The three of them watched her, crammed in the space at the window, until her voice was snatched by the breeze and then the train rounded the corner and she was gone.

"She'll be hell when we get back at Christmas," James commented philosophically. "I better remember to actually send her my first detention slip or I'll never hear the end of it."

Rose gave him a disapproving look.

"I don't think you're supposed to aim for detention," she pointed out.

"I don't aim for it," James protested. "It just sort of happens."

"It's because you don't know when to shut up," Albus said.

James reached over and ruffled his hair, because he knew how much it annoyed Albus. Albus shoved his hand away which just made James laugh.

"Not knowing when to shut up is one of the finest traditions of Gryffindor house," James said as he drifted off into the next compartment.

"I'm pretty sure it's not," Rose said as James disappeared. "If it was then Teddy would definitely have been a Gryffindor."

She began moving, striding purposefully in the opposite direction to James. Albus followed, less purposefully. She eschewed two carriages. In the middle of the third Albus caught her arm.

"What are you doing?"

"Where we sit is important," Rose said patiently but in the lecturing tone that sounded very much like Aunt Hermione giving an address at the ministry. "It is the start of defining us. It will shape who we become friends with. It's the most important choice we make."

Albus stared at her. He looked at the compartment they'd stopped opposite.

"Nearly everywhere else is full. Let's just sit in here."

Rose gave him a look, clearly unimpressed with his approach to choosing compartments, defining his future and shaping friends. But she did turn with a slight sigh and gave the compartment a critical once over. It was empty but for a blonde boy sitting by the window. He sensed them looking and turned with a slight frown. Rose stepped back out of view, pulling Albus with her.

"That's Scorpius," Rose hissed. "We can't sit with Scorpius."

Albus thought that maybe she had something of a point, since despite being technically civil these days, his dad and Draco Malfoy had their share of bad blood. But then he heard James' voice coming towards them. It was easy to hear James coming: his voice was like a fog horn. Albus grabbed hold of Rose and dragged her into the compartment, pulling the door shut behind them.

"Hey!" Rose protested.

Scorpius gave them a confused look. Rose gave Albus a confused look. James walked past, surrounded by his friends. He glanced in, gave them both a big grin and then did the snake thing with his tongue again for Albus' benefit.

Albus glared at James, shrugged at Rose and sat himself firmly down on the seat. Scorpius' cheeks were red and he had gone back to staring out of the window, deliberately not meeting their eyes. Rose threw herself down next to Albus looking less than pleased.

"You could find somewhere else," Albus suggested but Rose just sniffed.

The journey was long. The train raced through the country side, through towns, the sound of the wheels and the puff of steam seemed loud against the strained silence of the compartment. Rose had changed into her robes early and then had retrieved a book which she held up to obscure her face. She had been muttering incantations to herself ever since, ignoring Albus and acting as though Scorpius didn't exist.

Scorpius avoided Albus' eye, staring the distant horizon. At one point the train had gone around a sharp bend and the luggage had shifted on the racks above, while Scorpius' bag had tumbled off the seat. An assortment of sweets had fallen out, more than one person could possibly eat. They'd scattered around the floor and Scorpius had scrambled to pick them up. When Albus had tried to help, Scorpius had turned bright red. His mumbled thanks were the first words he’d spoken and he’d  been silent ever since.

Albus amused himself by trying to reconstruct Hogwarts in his head from everything James and his parents had told him. He sketched out images of the lake, the Whomping Willow which James said was getting even more belligerent in its old age. He could see the fat lady and the look she gave when someone forgot a password. Teddy had said that James had forgotten the password three times in his first week, something James had always categorically denied.

It was a shame Teddy had left Hogwarts. It would have been nice to have an ally who wasn't as arbitrary as James. But Teddy had finished his last year. The only person Albus knew was James.

 And Rose. But she didn’t count because she was new too. Besides, she was still ignoring him.

It was getting dark when the train finally began to slow. Rose looked up from her book, excitement gleaming in her eyes. She scooted along the seat, face so close to the window her rose pressed against the glass. Albus felt a similar thrill and he moved forward, kneeling up behind Rose and straining his eyes searching for his first view of the castle.

"Nearly there," Rose whispered. She could barely keep still. As the train slowed to a crawl they came out the other side of a bend and the castle finally appeared in the distance - a distant dark outline peppered with blazing orange lights.

"We're here," Rose said, voice full of wonder. "We're really here."

Getting off the train was a mad scramble. Everyone was keen to get off and get moving. The older students formed clusters, shouting to friends they hadn't seen on the train. There was a lot of good-natured yelling, some friendly name calling. Albus was pleased to catch one of James' friends clocking his brother round the head in response to something James said. In between the older students who hauled trunks like pros and gravitated towards the waiting carriages, the first years wound, struggling with their luggage and heading for the voice that boomed over the chaos, calling them to the side of the station.

The boats, Albus remembered, the first years always got the boats.

Rose was an expert at weaving through crowds so he let her go ahead and followed in the path she created. He kept stealing looks at the castle above them. He couldn't quite believe it was real.

They made it across the lake without incident which was a secret relief as he’d privately been worried about falling in or the giant squid dragging him down into the depths. James had said that had happened to a boy in his first year, but now that Albus thought about it that seemed unlikely.

The journey through the castle was rapid and confusing as they went through halls, up a staircase, down again before they finally ended up outside the great hall. The first years stood huddled together nerves rising as they listened to the clattering and chattering of the older students inside. Conversation broke here and there, careful introductions and nervous comments.

He and Rose were joined by a friendly girl with dark hair and lots of freckles who had been in the boat. She introduced herself as Polly and had immediately started up a debate about whether or not the sorting hat based it's choices on your past character or what it thought you would become and could achieve. That had been far too philosophical for Albus, and the mention of the sorting hat made his stomach feel clench.

It was a relief when silence was called for and the hall doors finally swung open revealing the great hall. The room was bathed in a warm orange light from the candles that bobbed in the air, bright and cheerful with their flickering radiance. The sky was navy, turning to black, and was studded with early stars and silver wisps of cloud. Every face was watching them as the first years were herded down the middle of the room. Some waved to siblings or relatives, others stared straight ahead with tense expressions. Albus couldn’t see James at first, though he scanned the Gryffindor table up and down, but then Albus saw James’ unruly mass of dark hair moving this way and that as he examined the first years that passed him on their way to the front.

Albus swatted James’ hair as he passed, revenge for earlier. James’ hand leapt to the back of his head and he glared at Albus. Albus grinned back, the cheeky grin he knew James hated. George was sitting next to James, and gave Albus a big grin and nudged James cheerfully.

“Your match is here,” he whispered.

Albus liked George. He was a stocky, sporty muggleborn who had come round a couple of times in the holidays and had impressed Albus by not taking any of his brother’s rubbish, and showing Albus how to pick a lock with a hair pin he’d taken off his little sister. He’d gotten Lily into Star Wars and Lily had worn her hair in two buns for months. Albus thought Lily might have something of a thing for George. James thought so too and he’d teased her nonstop until Lily had brought up Esmerelda Hart and suddenly James was quiet as a mouse.

“Yeah right,” James whispered back. Albus turned to give him another smug grin. James retaliated with the snake thing again because he knew now it was a sure fire way to wind Albus up. Rose pinched his arm to stop him retaliating.

“Forget James,” she whispered. “It’s starting.”

It was, with Antonia Anderson. She approached the stool with an expression of complete trepidation, eyeing the tattered old hat as though it might swallow her whole.

“It’s not like I thought it would be,” Albus whispered.

Rose nodded. She clapped politely with the rest of the first years and the entirety of the Hufflepuff table as Antonia was sorted.

“I suppose it’s been around forever,” Rose said. “No wonder it looks old. Wonder how many people it’s sorted?”

Albus shrugged. He thought of Dad, Mum, Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, James. They’d all walked up to the stool, sat with the hats on their heads. He wondered what their faces had been like as they sat there, how they’d reacted as the hat had shouted –

“Gryffindor!”

They’d moved on to Polly Chapman, the dark-haired girl from the boat. She grinned and rushed over to the Gryffindor table.

When Rose’s name was called she blanched, though she must have been expecting it – they’d just done Valeria Garcia (Ravenclaw) and Toby Gardener (also Ravenclaw). Rose walked slowly, steps heavy. She clutched at the edges of the stool so hard her knuckles turned white. She had her eyes squeezed shut as the hat deliberated but she didn’t have to wait long.

“Gryffindor!”

Rose jumped up, beaming. She ran down to the Gryffindor table as it erupted into cheers. James whooped loudly, his voice carrying over the hall.

“Yeah Rose!” he yelled triumphantly.  

Rose slid in with the other Gryffindor first years: Polly and another boy whose name Albus couldn’t remember – Josh or Joseph something-or-other.  

Albus was glad she was happy, but now his legs felt even more shaky. The crowds of first years around him were thinning out as one by one they were called up – the Hs, Is and Js in quick succession. At the Ms and Ns Albus felt his stomach clench again and by the time they reached Laura Pelling (Hufflepuff), he thought he was going to be sick.

His missed his name the first time it was called, he was so busy concentrating on steadying his breathing and not throwing up. There was a ripple of low laughter and a lot of muttering as Albus’ name was called again, kindly but firmly.

“That means you Al,” James called helpfully. He was quelled with a stern look from a severe Professor in a midnight blue hat.

It was okay. It wasn’t far to the steps. Climb. Sit down. Hat on.

_Albus Potter…_

Somehow, he’d never realised the hat could talk. It made him jump and he clasped at the stool like it was a lifeline. The soft, dry voice came again, echoing around his head.

_I remember your father. And your mother. I met your brother not too long ago. Your mother was easy to place: there was a fire in her. Your brother was the same._

It struck Albus that even when being sorted he couldn’t escape his family. They were there, like the Looks and the Staring, a constant expectation to meet.

_Your father, now he was trickier: I could see two paths for him. You are very much like him Albus Potter._

Albus wasn’t so sure that was true. Everyone always said how brave his dad was, how good, how daring. He doubted anyone ever described him like that.

 _There_ is _a bravery in you Albus_ the hat said, as though it had heard his thoughts. _You would rise to a challenge. But there is ambition too. You want to be great._

And was that so bad? His dad was the boy-who-lived, James was his son, Lily was his daughter. Albus was an afterthought. Even his name didn’t match.

He would show James, with his snake taunts. He would show everyone.

He _did_ want to be great.

_Greater._

The hat somehow gave the impression of smiling, warm and soft and textured like the soft unfolding of fresh laundry.

 _I thought so,_ it said pleased but not self-satisfied. _Better be_ -

“Slytherin!”

The hat was removed from his head. The hall was silent. Albus had barely heard what the hat had said, but it registered now just as the way the entire school staring at him registered. He stood, shakily, and made his way over to the Slytherin table. He didn’t want to look at James. He didn’t want to look at his new house, who had finally started clapping, sporadically and perfunctorily. The whispering had started again. As he sat, he risked a glance at James stealing himself for the disappointment, or the snake jokes. Instead James just looked completely thrown.

He ate quickly. One of the Slytherin Prefects – Isiah Yeates – tried to engage him in conversation but almost everyone else ignored him. They didn’t seem to know what to do with him. Albus hardly knew what to do with himself. His hands were shaking. He’d feared this, but he’d never really expected it.

Why hadn’t he just asked the hat to be in Gryffindor?

When the feast had finally finished, Isiah led them out of the hall. The Slytherin table were the last to leave and so there wasn’t anyone to stare at him. In the entrance hall a couple of students milled around. James was one of them. Albus didn’t look at him, just kept following, half-listening to Isiah as he talked them through the castle routine.

“Al!” James called. When he ignored him, James reached out and grabbed at Albus’ arm forcing him to stop. Eleven years of throwing James off him had been good practice but before Albus could do the twist and jerk James could never defend against, James had pulled away raising his hands in a peace gesture. Albus refrained from shoving at him to prove a point, and folded his arms instead.

“What?” he demanded waspishly. James shifted, tugging at the edge of his robe. It wasn’t often James looked uncomfortable and a vindictive part of Albus found he enjoyed it.   

“Look,” he said, “I never actually expected you to end up in Slytherin. I mean there must be some mistake. You _can’t_ be Slytherin.”

“What’s so wrong with Slytherin?” Albus demanded. He was aware of the rest of the first years and Isiah deliberately trying not to listen while simultaneously listening very hard.

“Nothing,” James said quickly. Too quickly. “But you’re not a Slytherin Al. It’s not you. You fought a gnome to get back Lily’s biscuit when you were five for Merlin’s sake. And you’re kind of impulsive and –“

Albus glared James to a halt which was kind of gratifying because he didn’t usually have the ability to shut his brother up with a look.

“Well the hat said I’m Slytherin.”

“But –“

“Leave me alone James,” Albus said.

“You don’t have to ruin your school life just to prove a point,” James said suddenly. Albus narrowed his eyes.

“I said leave me alone!” He was fiercer than he’d expected but his voice was also tight with pent up irritation and emotion. He was tired. His head hurt and his new robes didn’t fit properly. He just wanted to be left alone.

He stalked to the front of the group as Isiah led them off, down towards the dungeons, leaving James standing alone in the hall.

  

 

**Author's Note:**

> Dialogue from the script: 
> 
> All dialogue from "What if I'm put in Slytherin?" to "I thought they were invisible!"


End file.
